By: Glenys Ong
One thing I never expected about field school is how much of it would be set to music. I’ve found that most of the fieldwork process – from digging to the cleaning and documenting of artifacts – can be done and even improved by a great playlist. During the jeepney rides back and forth to the site, most of us have earphones in listening to our own music. Sometimes I listen to the music I grew up with – since we’re living in such close quarters and working with the same small group of people for nearly two months, it’s been important to me to get back into my own head every once in a while, to keep myself grounded and take a step back to process everything. More recently, I’ve been repeating my jeepney ride music to try and build associations with certain songs. I’d like to listen to them in the future and remember little things about field school, like the loose rocks of a terrace wall, the dirt on my knees as I crawl around in the trench, or the jolt of the jeepney as it goes over unpaved road.
Today marks the second week we’ve spent in the Philippines and the first week of fieldwork at the Old Kiyyangan Village. In such a foreign environment, it’s been all about adjusting and adapting, and finding the best way to do things. Every day I notice things getting easier as it slowly slips into a routine. Our first walk to our work site seemed treacherous, taking us through different kinds of terrain. We had to climb up steep slopes of mud, teeter across narrow planks of wood, ford rivers and streams, and cross several bridges. The journey was so varied and precarious that it reminded me of a maze in a puzzle book, where a character might have to wade through a swamp and avoid crocodiles to get an antidote from the opposite bank, or something equally adventurous and dramatic. After a few days of experience, however, the trip that once seemed scary turned into a pleasant walk. The stone walls I had once carefully navigated can now be crossed in a quick stride. I’ve almost gotten it down to a science, remembering specific rocks that are the most steady and dependable. Recently, Dr. Acabado and the SITMo volunteers have found us an easier and even more scenic path back to the jeepney, which we’re all grateful for. I’ve adapted my field gear as well, after attempting to cover every bit of exposed skin and feeling swampy and uncomfortable instead. I’ve decided to embrace the sun and the mud, and have traded in my long-sleeved shirts and hiking boots for loose-fitting t-shirts and bare feet, a kind of Lamarckian adaptation to the heat and humidity of the jungle.
Our trench has been rich with earthenware sherds and bone artifacts, to the extent that I can barely move my trowel without coming into contact with something new. It’s a happy problem, and a far cry from our first few days in the field when we were tasked with digging a shovel test pit to a depth of 75 centimetres. Three days of work yielded absolutely nothing, except a small rock slightly bigger than my thumb. Still, our little test pit was essential in determining the extent of the village and was a good opportunity to practice troweling skills before tackling a larger trench. It was also much easier to document our work, since there was very little to note. We’re now spoiled for choice with the amount of artifacts we’re finding. It’s sometimes a little tedious to stop troweling for a small fragment of ceramic or bone, but honestly every find is always new and exciting. As someone interested in human osteology, I was thrilled to find our first bone in the trench. So far, we’ve only uncovered faunal remains, but it’s still been really useful to learn how to differentiate them, and fun to guess what animals they might have belonged to. Yesterday’s theory was dragons and aliens, though we might have to do DNA testing to confirm that.
Outside of the field, it’s been an absolute pleasure working with the other undergraduates, graduate students and faculty on the team. I feel like I’ve known my classmates for months or years, though it’s been just two weeks. Our teachers take their time to make sure we’re growing and learning, and never get impatient with us. Every so often we get little treats, like ice cream after a particularly sunny day of work, donuts from Lagawe, or a round of beer on Doc. I’ve found myself feeling really happy and grateful for all the little moments. It’s kind of amazing how thoughtful and considerate everyone has been. The first two weeks have surpassed all expectations, and I’m really looking forward to what comes next.
One thing I never expected about field school is how much of it would be set to music. I’ve found that most of the fieldwork process – from digging to the cleaning and documenting of artifacts – can be done and even improved by a great playlist. During the jeepney rides back and forth to the site, most of us have earphones in listening to our own music. Sometimes I listen to the music I grew up with – since we’re living in such close quarters and working with the same small group of people for nearly two months, it’s been important to me to get back into my own head every once in a while, to keep myself grounded and take a step back to process everything. More recently, I’ve been repeating my jeepney ride music to try and build associations with certain songs. I’d like to listen to them in the future and remember little things about field school, like the loose rocks of a terrace wall, the dirt on my knees as I crawl around in the trench, or the jolt of the jeepney as it goes over unpaved road.
Today marks the second week we’ve spent in the Philippines and the first week of fieldwork at the Old Kiyyangan Village. In such a foreign environment, it’s been all about adjusting and adapting, and finding the best way to do things. Every day I notice things getting easier as it slowly slips into a routine. Our first walk to our work site seemed treacherous, taking us through different kinds of terrain. We had to climb up steep slopes of mud, teeter across narrow planks of wood, ford rivers and streams, and cross several bridges. The journey was so varied and precarious that it reminded me of a maze in a puzzle book, where a character might have to wade through a swamp and avoid crocodiles to get an antidote from the opposite bank, or something equally adventurous and dramatic. After a few days of experience, however, the trip that once seemed scary turned into a pleasant walk. The stone walls I had once carefully navigated can now be crossed in a quick stride. I’ve almost gotten it down to a science, remembering specific rocks that are the most steady and dependable. Recently, Dr. Acabado and the SITMo volunteers have found us an easier and even more scenic path back to the jeepney, which we’re all grateful for. I’ve adapted my field gear as well, after attempting to cover every bit of exposed skin and feeling swampy and uncomfortable instead. I’ve decided to embrace the sun and the mud, and have traded in my long-sleeved shirts and hiking boots for loose-fitting t-shirts and bare feet, a kind of Lamarckian adaptation to the heat and humidity of the jungle.
Our trench has been rich with earthenware sherds and bone artifacts, to the extent that I can barely move my trowel without coming into contact with something new. It’s a happy problem, and a far cry from our first few days in the field when we were tasked with digging a shovel test pit to a depth of 75 centimetres. Three days of work yielded absolutely nothing, except a small rock slightly bigger than my thumb. Still, our little test pit was essential in determining the extent of the village and was a good opportunity to practice troweling skills before tackling a larger trench. It was also much easier to document our work, since there was very little to note. We’re now spoiled for choice with the amount of artifacts we’re finding. It’s sometimes a little tedious to stop troweling for a small fragment of ceramic or bone, but honestly every find is always new and exciting. As someone interested in human osteology, I was thrilled to find our first bone in the trench. So far, we’ve only uncovered faunal remains, but it’s still been really useful to learn how to differentiate them, and fun to guess what animals they might have belonged to. Yesterday’s theory was dragons and aliens, though we might have to do DNA testing to confirm that.
Outside of the field, it’s been an absolute pleasure working with the other undergraduates, graduate students and faculty on the team. I feel like I’ve known my classmates for months or years, though it’s been just two weeks. Our teachers take their time to make sure we’re growing and learning, and never get impatient with us. Every so often we get little treats, like ice cream after a particularly sunny day of work, donuts from Lagawe, or a round of beer on Doc. I’ve found myself feeling really happy and grateful for all the little moments. It’s kind of amazing how thoughtful and considerate everyone has been. The first two weeks have surpassed all expectations, and I’m really looking forward to what comes next.
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